Air-navigating craft.



A. D. 6; H. D. GARRETSON.

AIR NAVIGATING CRAFT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I7, 1910.

1,179,298. Patented Apr. 11,1916.

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I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1?, 1910. 1,179,298.. Patented Ap1'. 11,1916.

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AIR. NAVIGATING cram. I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1910. 1,179,298, Patented Apr. 11,1916.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT om-CE.

ALBERT D. GARRETSON AND HARRY D. GARRETS'ON, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

AIRFNAVIGATING CR-AFT. v

Be it known that we, ALBERT GARRET- SON andI-IARRYD. GARRETSON, both citizens of the United States, residing at Buffalo,

county of Erie, State of NewYork, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement' in Air-Navigating Craft, and declare the following ,to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled .inthe art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to air navigation.,

It has for its object an improved air navigating craft of the Helicopter type in which the blades of the propeller are attached to long, flexible, restraining or holding cables, which allow the blades tohang from their points of support in a vertical condition when the propelling mechanism is not in action, but which, because of centrifugal force,

- restrain or hold the blades with theirlong supports begin to change from their vertical axes in an approximately horizontal condition or position when the motive power has attained its full force; the blades with their condition to 'their horizontal condition mediately after the prime motorbegins-its action and the centrifugal force begins to act'upon them.

In the drawings Figure 1, is an elevation of the craft in a position of rest. Fig, 2, is an elevation of the craft with'the propeller in operative position. ';Fig Q), is a horizontal projection of the craft with the propeller in operative position. Fig. 4, .is a

detail of the wing-blade and its connections.

- Fig. 5, is a diagram showing the relation of the components 'of force acting on a wing blade. Fig. 6, is a diagram showing a wing blade with a single attachment for the rev straining cable and with balancing attach ment upon'the blade. Fig. 7, is a diagram of the components of force on the blade shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8, is a diagram of the forces tending to'keep. the craft in an upright position. Fig. 9, is a detail of a means of applying motive power to the wing arm. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the mast and th balancing planes.

' The craft consists of a cage or carriage 1,

v to be occupied by the traveler; this cage hangs from a post 3 to. which itis swiveled,

the post may be considered as the main Specification of Letters Patent.

.The fuel tank F rests Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed June 17,1910. Serial No. 567,358.

foundation member of the entire structure; it carries a'motor M that drives two sets of arms 8 and 9. The cage 1 hangs belowit, and a mast supporting a balancing plane rlses above 1t; the two sets of arms move in opposlte directions. The motor is secured to the post on a table T which supports also the fuel tank F. The'carriage 'forthe passenger is swiveled to the post and is provided with means which prevent its ready turning thereon or therewith. The carriage consists of a rectangular frame work 1 suspended by a frame or cage 2 from the post 3; the upper end of the post 3 supports a table T on which is' mounted the main driving motor M. Below the table -that is driven by the motor; the same pin- 1on 8f engages an annular gear 6 'se'cured to the r ng 6. The pinion 8 is on a shaft 8 your'naled 1n bearings on the table T and driven by means-of miter gear 8 by a miter gear 8-on the crank shaft of the engine M. The opposite end of the crank shaft is provided with a miter pinion 8., which meshes with the miter gear 8 on the long shaft 8 that extends down through the hollow interior of the post 3,, and is utilized for engine startlng purposes. The sleeve 4 rests on 001- lar 3 on the post 3 above the swivel jo'int.2.

on the table T, and is connected with the engine in. any suitable way, and feeds its-fuel to the engine through a throttle-governed valve V controlled by manually actuated reachrod S. The mast R rises from the table Tand supports at its upper end balancing planeslO, that will be spoken of more at length hereinafter.

The specific means by which the opposite motlons are given to these two sets of arms does not form any part of this invention;

- any other means might be employed for producing the opposite rotation of the arms 8 and 9, without departing .from the invention herein conta1ned. The relative speed of the two wingsupporting members is provided for by the proper determination of the sizes and orbits of the wing blades 14 and 17, and properly proport oning the gear with respect thereto; 1t 1s desirable to give to the two sets of arms such speed as will produce a substantially equal resistance and a cons quent substantially equal lifting power, all

of which is a matter of computation. The lower diverging arms 8, carried by the ring 5, have cables 13 attached thereto, and from the outer or free ends of these cables hang the wing blades 14; to the upper diverging arms 9 are attached cables 19 from the ends of whichhang the wing blades 17 of the upper set. The attachment of the blade to the cable may be double as indicated in Fig. 4, or single asindicated in Fig. 6. With the double attachment indicated in Fig. 4, there is an automatic adjustment of the wing blade, which automatic adjustment is controlled by the speed of rotation of the wing. This automatic adjustment is eliected by the air resistance to the wing blade, which arm frames.-

tends to twist the blade on its axis against the holding tension of the cable, whereas the cable tends to twist the wing blade in the opposite direction; the diagram Fig. 5 shows this. With'the single connection of Fig. 6, we use an attachment 17" hinged to the Wing blade 17 which produces the same automatic governing result (see diagram Fig. 7). The lifting force of the wing blade is converted into a progressive force to produce a traveling movement of the craft by shifting the center of gravity of the entire craft, which is done by the occupant changing his position. The car or carriage part of the vessel is provided with a tail 18, which tends to prevent the cage or car from revolving with the post; this tail is made large enough to furnish a resistance plane which overcomes the tendency of the car to rotate with the post 3, which sometimes rotates with one or the other of the wing Change in direction of the progressive motion of the craft is effected by manipulating the reach rod 20 of a clutch 21 onthe cage, which causes-the engagement of one lever or the other-of the clutch with either the collar 3 orthe sleeve 4; as these parts are caused to rotate in opposite directions, the change in direction of the crafts movement is eflected accordingly.

The stability of the normally uprightiposition of the car is assured by series of balancing planes 10, as shown in Fig. 10. These are actedupon by the air against which the craft is advancing and they co-act with the the craft itself to keep the car in a substantially upright position, with the post 3 inclining forward, and vwith its top advanced to produce, the traveling movement of the car. The tail 18 is arranged to fold so that it may be folded away from the path of the wings when the wings drop to or toward the positionof rest shown in Fig. 1.

A friction clutch or brake 21 is arranged central post,

Lmaaee members normally pendent from said arms and adapted to be swung toward a horizontal position by the rotation of said sleeve.

2. An air navigating craft, comprising a a table carried on the top of said post supporting the craft propelling means, a mast carried by said table and a series of balancing planes carried mast. j v

3. An .air navigating craft, comprising a post, a table carried by said post, a motor carried by said table, a sleeve rotatably mounted around said post, means connecting said motor with said sleeve for rotating the same, an upper ring member rotatably mounted on Said sleeve, a lower ring member rigidly mounted onsaid sleeve, aplurality of arms carried by each of said rings and propelling means flexibly connected with each series of said arms. v

4. An air navigating craft, comprising a 'rigid post, a table carried by said post, a

by said-1 5. An-air navigating craft, comprising a central post, a table carried by said post, a motor carried by said table, a sleeve rotatably surrounding said post, means connecting said motor with said sleeve for rotating said sleeve, a collar rigidly secured to said. ,post below said sleeve, a carriage pivotally supported on said post, a clutch carried by said carriage and means operable in said carriage for throwing said clutch into engagement with said collar or into engagement with said sleeve.

6. In an air navigating craft, the combination with a post, a table carried by said post, a motor carried-by said table, a verti-' cal shaft carried by said table and adapted to be actuated by said motor, a plurality of sets of wing carrying arms rotatably arranged, means carried by said table for causing the rotation of the sets of arms opposite directions and wing vanes flexibly connected to said wing arms and adapted to swing outwardly therefrom when said arms are in motion, and pendent therefrom when said arms are not in motion.

7. In an air navigating craft, the combination with a post, a table carried by said post, a motor carried by said table, a mast carried by said table, a series of balancing vanes carried at the level of the top of said mast in angular relation to each other, a vertical shaft rotatably carried by said table and adapted to be actuated by said motor, a plurality of sets of wing carrying arms rotatably arranged, means carried by said table for causing the rotation of the sets of arms in opposite directions and wing vanes flexibly connected to said armsand adapted I to swing outwardly therefrom when said arms are in motion, and pendent therefrom when said arms are not in motion.

3. In an air navigating craft a carriage, a motor, an upwardly extending mast above said carriage, a plurality of'wing members flexibly mounted in position to be horizontally rotated by said motor, means for driving said wing members in opposite directions, a balancing vane at the upper endof said mast and at right angles thereto, said wings being intermediate of said balancing .va-ne and said carriage.

9. In an air navigating craft, in combination with a motor and a shaft therefor, a carriage supported beneath said motor, an upwardly extending mast projecting above said motor, a balancing vane at the upper end of said mast, wing members rotatably mounted upon suitable supports and arranged to be rotated by said shaft, said wing members being flexibly connected to said shaft.

10. In the propeller of a helicopter, the combination of a plurality of series of rotative arms adapted to move in opposite directions, the one to the other, a cable-attached at its center portion to each of said ,arms and a series of wing vanes, each of said vanes being secured to the ends of two of said cables, whereby the lifting action tion of said shaft, a cable attached at its center portion to each of said arms, and a seriesof wing vanes, each of sa1d vanes bemg secured to the ends of two of said cables,

and a clutch mechanism carried by said frame for directing the travel of said carriage.

In testimony whereof we sign this specificatlon 1n the presence of. two witnesses.

ALBERT D. GARRETSON. HARRY D. GARRETSON.

Witnesses:

JOHN O. Ansrr, MARGARET K. BARTON. 

